Poverty, low education levels, & HIV/AIDS

"Hello, little schoolgirl," Johnson sang, "You better keep your dress tail down. I hear there's a lot of AIDS out here, and it's spreading all around."

When the song was released in 1991, many people still regarded HIV/AIDS as chiefly a problem of gay enclaves in big cities. But a new county-level map of U.S. HIV infection data, by researchers at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, along with an analysis of the data by USA TODAY, shows how deeply in three decades HIV also has become entrenched in America's heartland, especially the South.

HIV is tightly entwined with poverty. Southern counties that have the greatest rates of HIV infection are among the poorest in the nation, USA TODAY's analysis shows. Elsewhere in the USA, counties with the highest rates of HIV-infected people had, on average, one in seven people living in poverty, earning roughly $22,350 for a family of four. In the South's most HIV-stricken counties, about one of every five people live below the federal poverty line.

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F.A.A.M.E 2011 BASUAH Teen Health Summit: June 14-15

It's going to be FUN as well as EDUCATIONAL!

For Youth ages 13-18 (Middle/High School) * Hotel Pere Marquette, Peoria IL

*Register by June 8th

*There is no cost to participate

The purpose of the Summit is to reduce risky sexual behaviors, particularly those relating to the spread and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Each day participants will participate in a variety of general and breakout sessions that will focus on topics dealing with teen sexual health. We will also host two workshops for LGBTQ teens and their supporters that explore the LGBTQ culture, community, and associated struggles. Chaperones and other adults will participate in workshops relevant to starting/maintaining their own peer education group, the Nia/SISTA interventions, and building partnerships with other community agencies. Each day of the summit will culminate with lively, fun, and educational event for community youth hosted by the Youth Wellness Bureau of Sangamon County/BASUAH Ambassadors.

Youth will receive a certificate of participation at the end of the Summit.

Contact Besserat Habtes for more information and to register

217-522-7303 ext 111 or at

Bhabtes@Springfieldul.org

NOTE: The application will be posted on the www.basuah.com website soon.